Walmart is dramatically expanding its drone delivery footprint in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, operating from stores in 30 towns and municipalities and opening up airborne delivery to up to 75% of the area’s population. Area stores’ delivery radius will be up to 10 miles.
The drone deliveries, which can be as fast as 30 minutes (some as quickly as 10 minutes) will be carried out by Wing, a division of Google parent company Alphabet, and Zipline. Both are approved by the FAA to fly drones without a dedicated observer being able to see the drone at all times, known as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
“This expansion will bring the ultimate convenience of drone delivery to communities across the DFW area,” said Prathibha Rajashekhar, SVP, Innovation and Automation at Walmart U.S. in a statement. “Customers will have access to a broad assortment of items from Walmart available for delivery to their home in just minutes. Drone delivery is not just a concept of the future, it’s happening now and will soon be a reality for millions of additional Texans.”
In drone delivery trials conducted over the past two years, Walmart has completed more than 20,000 safe deliveries, according to a company blog post. Customers have used the service for last-minute items, such as a forgotten ingredient or over-the-counter cold medicine, or simply for the convenience of having snacks and beverages delivered quickly. The drones can deliver multiple items, such as supplies for a home movie night or ingredients for cookies, including fragile items like eggs.
Advertisement
Walmart rival Amazon committed to expanded use of drones in October 2023, and GNC began testing drone deliveries with Zipline in June 2023. Wing Aviation CFO Shannon Nash recently discussed increased acceptance of drone deliveries with Retail TouchPoints as part of transforming the last mile into a “fast mile.”
Retailer Unveils Search Powered by Generative AI
Walmart announced the drone delivery expansion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon delivered a keynote address. The retailer also revealed other new tech initiatives including:
- A new GenAI-powered search experience providing relevant results across categories that’s now available to iOS customers, who can search by specific use cases, such as a “football watch party,” versus conducting individual searches for chips, wings and a 90-inch TV;
- Walmart InHome Replenishment, which uses AI and the retailer’s decades of replenishment expertise to help ensure customers’ online shopping carts are filled with the right items at the right time and delivered into a refrigerator in a kitchen or garage; and
- Shop with Friends, a beta social commerce platform leveraging augmented reality (AR) that enables customers to share the virtual outfits they create with friends and get feedback on their fashion finds.
“We build technology to serve people and not the other way around,” said McMillon in his keynote. “Walmart’s purpose is to help people live better, and today, more than ever, advances in technology make it feel like anything is possible. Our technology roadmap is compelling and we’re very excited about it, but we’re clear that we are a people-led, tech-powered company. People, our customers and associates, come first and we’ll put technology to work to serve them better than ever.”
